Minister for Innovation appoints working group about NSA Venture's future
Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir has appointed a four person working group about NSA Venture’s future. She announced her intention to do so at NSA Venture’s annual meeting this May.
In a press announcement, the ministry discusses the move:
NSA Ventures, which started in 1998, was created because a lack of availability of startup funding which the government needed to address that market failure. The fund has played an important role as an early stage investor, and been a part in bridging the gap between grant-giving governmental funds and later stage investors.
The startup funding environment has changed drastically since the fund’s inception, most notably by the emergence of new investment companies and venture capital funds. The fund has also been in a tight position, partially because the sale of assets has been slow, and fresh investments therefore few and far between.
The future framework and allocation of the fund’s assets have been under review for several years, and the purpose of the working group is to review underlying data and make suggestions.
The working group consists of:
- Guðrún Gísladóttir, chairman, Director General in the Ministry of Industries and Innovation.
- Almar Guðmundsson, chairman of the board at NSA Ventures.
- Guðrún Ögmundsdóttir specialest at the Ministry of Finance
- Tryggvi Hjaltason, Producer at CCP.
The working group is asked to deliver their suggestions before September 30th of this year.
A mostly straight-forward announcement, and right in line with what the minister discussed at the annual meeting.
The composition of the group is also mostly straight forward. Two representatives of the government and the two ministries that are directly involved with the fund. Almar Guðmundsson most likely sits there as a representative of NSA Ventures, knowing its workings and assets, while not directly employed by the fund. Tryggvi Hjaltason comes in as an independent advisor. Researched the operational environment of tech and startup companies in Iceland in his Master’s thesis.
NSA Ventures will be the topic of the next Memo – you can sign up here.
